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Madame Medusa
Madame Medusa is the main antagonist in the 1977 Disney animated film The Rescuers. Her henchmen were her pet alligators, Brutus and Nero and her right-hand man, Mr. Snoops. She kidnaps an orphaned little girl, Penny to find the Devil's Eye. Overwhelming, authoritative, and entertaining, with the looks, cynical worldview, and wardrobe of an over-the-hill chanteuse, Medusa has a heart blacker than the murky waters of the Devil's Bayou. As owner of Madame Medusa's Pawnshop Boutique, she must have the Devil's Eye--and won't rest until she clutches that glittery diamond in her greedy palms. Her plan is simple: find a child, skinny, homely child that no one would miss, and drop it into the watery cave where the elusive diamond resides. She knows she could handle a child with her patented mixure of sickly sweet cajoling and evil threats. With the ungainly Mr. Snoops as her partner-in-crime, she finds Penny and has no compunction about abandoning her to whatever fate had in store. Never does she suspect that a pair of brave mice would foil her plans! She ranked #16 in a top 30 disney villains (One better than Professor Ratigan but one under the Queen of Hearts.) but she is considered by many to be one of the greatest early Disney's villains. The Pawn Shop Bernard and Miss Bianca, mice from the Rescue Aid Society, are first told about Madame Medusa by Rufus the cat, who recalls a strange woman and her accomplice inviting the orphan Penny into her car. The mice go to Madame Medusa's Pawn Shop Boutique, hoping to find Penny there. Just as they find Penny's diary, the phone rings, and they quickly hide as Medusa enters the back room. When hearing Mr. Snoops on the other end of the phone, Medusa is at first delighted, thinking that he has 'found the diamond', but is soon furious when Snoops tells her that Penny has been sending messages in bottles. She angrily tells him that she will take the next flight to Devil's Bayou and immediately packs. Bernard and Miss Bianca attempt to hide in her car to go with her, but her reckless driving sends the two mice (and Medusa's luggage) onto the road The Riverboat Medusa is next seen in a Riverboat in Devil's Bayou, with Mr. Snoops, Nero and Brutus, keeping Penny captive. Penny manages to escape. Upon discovering this, Medusa sends Nero and Brutus to bring the girl back, and orders Snoops to send up flares to light up the swamp while she looks for Penny in her swampmobile. The fireworks surprise Orville, who is taking Bernard and Miss Bianca to the swamp, and set his tail on fire. The two mice bail out, but all three land safely. They meet Ellie Mae and Luke, who tell them that they want to run Medusa out of the swamp. Nero and Brutus find Penny and take her (and her Teddy) to the riverboat, where Mr. Snoops attempts to tell Penny off and sends her up to her room. Snoops sends up more fireworks to tell Medusa that Penny is back in the riverboat, and Medusa returns, yelling at Snoops for letting Penny escape in the first place. Meeting Bernard and Bianca Meanwhile the mice sneak onto the boat (having been taken there by Evinrude and discover that she is after the Devil's Eye, a huge diamond, and that Penny is the only one small enough to crawl down into the Black Hole, a pirate's cave where the diamond is hidden. Medusa and Snoops leave the room, but Nero and Brutus smell Miss Bianca's perfume, and a chase ensues. Medusa returns to shut her pets up, but screams when she sees the mice, and calls Snoops to help. Snoops attacks the mice with a broom, and Brutus and Nero chase them, but when Medusa pulls out a huge gun and tries to shoot the mice everyone runs for cover. Bernard and Bianca manage to escape with their lives. Medusa decides that she will send Penny down to the cave until she retrieves the Devil's Eye, whether or not the tide comes in. Meanwhile, Bernardand Miss Bianca meet Penny and the three plot Penny's escape and Medusa's defeat. Meanwhile, Ellie Mae, Luke and the swamp gang wait for Evinrude to give them the signal to go to the riverboat. The Devil's Eye Medusa and Snoops take Penny to the entrance to the Pirate cave. Snatching Teddy away, Medusa orders Penny to get the Devil's Eye. The two mice hide in Penny's pocket and, when Penny gets into the cave, they help her to find the diamond. It is discovered inside a skull, which the mice pry open, and Penny recovers the diamond just ad the tide comes in. Snoops pulls Penny out of the cave and Medusa snatches the Devil's Eye from her. Snoops demands an equal share and they return to the boat, arguing all the way. Meanwhile, Evinrude reaches the swamp gang, giving them the signal to 'charge'; they all make for the riverboat, where Medusa has taken the diamond for herself and is leaving Snoops and Penny on the ship. Bernard and Miss Bianca trip Medusa up; she drops the diamond, and she and Snoops fight over it. The swamp gang attacks Medusa; she shoots at them, but Ellie Mae jumps on her head and hits her with a rolling pin. The swamp gang also manage to destroy Medusa's gun, confuse her by setting off Snoops' fireworks, and trap Nero and Brutus in a cage. Penny, Bernard, Bianca and the swamp gang escape on Medusa's swampmobile, but she grabs onto it and drags along behind until a sharp turn causes her to lose her grip and slam into a large pipe (from the riverboat). She is left clinging onto the pipe as Nero and Brutus, now free from the cage, snap at her. It is unknown that she loses her grip and gets eaten by Brutus. Behind the Scenes Madame Medusa was voiced by Geraldine Page and animated by Milt Kahl. Cruella De Vil's initial involvement During early production on The Rescuers, Cruella De Vil was considered for the role of the villain; drawings by Ken Anderson depict her in alligator skins, suggesting that she would have visited, or had dealings with, Devil's Bayou. This idea was abandoned, as the studio was not interested in producing sequels at the time, and Madame Medusa was created. Cruella and Medusa share certain characteristics, including fixation on a single goal, a fiery temper, vanity and a tendancy to drive recklessly Design One of many designs for Medusa by Ken Anderson Ken Anderson drew many different designs for Medusa, including a Lauren Bacall-esque 'grande dame' (with snake-like locks of hair, true to her name), a vain, sinister, slender lady and a portly woman with a facade of make-up, in an attempt to find the right personality. The design eventually settled on a rather hideous appearance (of which she seemingly remains unaware), with some fiery red hair to suit her character. Animation It was rumoured that Milt Kahl based Medusa's mannerisms on his ex-wife, whom he presumably disliked. Kahl, reputedly a perfectionist, did not think his assistants' animation to be of an adequate standard and redrew much of it himself. Madame Medusa holds significance as Kahl's last animated character before the animator's death. Deviations from Source Material Medusa is loosely based on the Diamond Duchess, an elderly woman who served as the villain in Margery Sharp's original novel, Miss Bianca, and who similarly wanted to obtain a specific diamond and was using an orphan girl in her plan (named Patience in Sharp's novel). However, Medusa has a somewhat wilder, more eccentric personality than the Diamond Duchess. Trivia *Madame Medusa is one of the ten villains featured in the tongue-in-cheek Disney Villains: The Top Secret Files. Medusa's section of the book includes a photo of Nero and Brutus as babies, and a catalogue of the world's greatest diamonds (most of which Medusa has scrawled 'too small!' over). Medusa is ranked as the ninth greatest Disney Villain at the end of the book. *It has been noted that Madame Medusa and Ursula share a similar facial structure. References 1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, "The Disney Villain" 2. ↑ Bob Thomas, "Disney's Art of Animation: From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast" 3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 John Canemaker, "Before the Animation Begins: The Life and Times of Disney inspirational Sketch Artists" 4. ↑ Disney Archives - Madame Medusa Retrieved from "http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Madame_Medusa" Category:Classics Category:Completely mad Category:Masters of Evil Category:Women Category:Rich Category:Gunmen Category:Females Category:Kidnappers Category:Probably Deceased villains Category:Evil geniuses Category:Foiled Villains Category:Most Evil Category:Foiled Villains Category:Most Evil Category:Foiled Villains